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In the beginning was the Sahara. Las Vegas’ “jewel of the desert,” the Sahara Hotel and Casino was a Moroccan-themed oasis with gold-tipped minarets, neon camels, African warriors and towering palms. In its heyday in the 1950s and ’60s, stars including Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis could be spotted at the Garden of Allah pool, which resembled the reflecting pool at the Taj Mahal.
   
At the end, which came in May 2011, the former playground of the Rat Pack seemed almost out of place on a Las Vegas Strip it helped to define. When it closed in May, the Sahara featured dollar-blackjack and burrito-eating contests. In its NASCAR bar, a replica of Dale Earnhardt’s race car was on display—with a flat tire, dents in the hood and coins haphazardly tossed on the front seat.

Evolution not Revolution

The Sahara’s demise is the latest milestone in an evolving Las Vegas Strip. Though hotelier Sam Nazarian bought the place to restore it, the timing was brutal—2007, just as the economy was starting to crater. And while Nazarian “had a good design plan in motion,” says architect Brett Ewing of Thalden Boyd Emery of Las Vegas, “the property is in a very poor location. In order to draw the market to the Sahara, it was going to require substantial capital. The ROI isn’t there in today’s economy.”
   
As a result, the historic Sahara ended with padlocks on those famous doors along with the sign, “Thanks for the memories.”
   
The recession has forced a number of gaming companies to suspend expansions and sell off properties. That fast shuffle has put plenty of bargains on the table, but after the acquisition comes the renovation. How do you refresh a property that’s priced right, but a little worse for wear?
   
One example of a quick, cost-conscious redo is the Siena Hotel Spa Casino in Reno. The resort’s last big overhaul, in the late 1990s, cost $20 million. When the Siena went bankrupt in 2010, an investment group picked it up for just $3.9 million, and remade it as a boutique resort in just five months. Workers ditched the Old World Italian décor for an ultra-contemporary look meant to draw a sophisticated clientele.
   
The new Siena has a luxury spa, lots of marble, and a veritable gallery of imported art. The work is not yet complete, but the renovation so far has cost just $5 million—more than the actual sale price, but a quarter of the previous renovation.
   
Buffalo Bill’s in Primm, Nevada, hit the jackpot when a Las Vegas mega-project went south. As part of a recent $1.5 million upgrade, Bill’s picked up about $500,000 worth of sleek, modern furniture once destined for the Fontainebleau, the unfinished resort on the north end of the Strip. About half of Buffalo Bill’s 1,242 rooms have benefited from the sell-off—a bargain-basement renovation that cost an economical $800 per room.
   
Ewing cites his company’s project, the Cherokee Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tulsa, as an “expansion and re-branding that has been remarkable addressing an untapped market.” Others include Treasure Island, purchased from MGM Resorts by Phil Ruffin, who is “strategically renovating it to a specific middle market. This is a great example of the strength of a sole proprietor,” says Ewing.
   
The Mirage is another example of a property with intact architecture and infrastructure that has “implemented substantial interior remodels to keep the property top-notch.”
   
Scheduled Upgrades

As a rule, hotel-casino upgrades are budgeted on a five-to-seven-year schedule as part of capital expenditures; with the economy still uncertain, that once-fixed cycle has now become more elastic, with some properties pushing it up to a decade.
   
But failing to maintain and improve in a competitive environment may be the definition of “penny-wise and pound-foolish.” Especially when a property changes hands, a new look signals to customers that they have something to look forward to, or a reason to come back.
   
While all eyes are on the bottom line, if the chips are down and ROI is in decline, renovations must be made “inside and out to the greatest extent possible within the budget,” says architect Joel Bergman.
   
“Customers don’t care about maintenance and operating costs; they care about what’s appealing, what’s sexy, what gets their juices flowing,” says Bergman, of Bergman Walls and Associates in Las Vegas. “If all I give a damn about is operating costs, I don’t stand a chance of getting new customers and pulling back old ones. I’ve got to ask, ‘What’s going to grab people, get them excited, get them talking to their friends? What’s going to get the media jazzed up?’”
   
While upgrading colors and finishes and swapping out furniture, fixtures and equipment are the first steps in the playbook, it’s just as important to find the pizzazz. For a casino hotel outside Minneapolis, the answer was a single dramatic fixture.
   
Mystic River, a onetime ragtag tribal property, had seen half a dozen additions over time, but never achieved a unifying theme or link. With almost 650,000 square feet of disjointed casino, hotel, retail and convention space, the property posed an interesting challenge for Bergman Walls and the Cuningham Group, enlisted by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux to collaborate on a remedy.
   
Their solution was simple but striking. Designers came up with a fiery “Golden River” ceiling feature that not only organized the gaming space but created a dynamic flow from the casino to adjoining areas of interest, like shops and restaurants. Patrons naturally found themselves following what could be described as an inverse Yellow Brick Road; the design won a 2010 FAB Award in the hospitality category.
   
“It became a vibrant, flowing space, a common river running through the ceiling,” says Bergman. “The customers loved it; it was just
a happening.”

Public Perception

Although it’s important to renovate with ease of maintenance, durability and safety in mind, subtle changes or simple upkeep won’t create a sufficient change in perception among the public, says Bergman.
   
“You have to spend seriously on the front of the house, change the things visitors can see from the moment they arrive,” he says. 
   
Ewing notes that physical comfort—that sometimes-overlooked essential—is as vital to the successful casino hotel as “color, space, lighting and all the other things we love to talk about.”
   
“Maybe there are functional issues you have to handle; do something with walls and ceiling, resolve spatial issues if it’s not a comfortable space. Sometimes if the climate is off—if it’s cold and customers are just not comfortable—that can kill an opportunity.” For older patrons, lighting must be enhanced and signage must be clear and bold.
   
As importantly, says Ewing, marketing must be backed up with unstinting service.
    
“You have one shot at attracting that customer on the fence, the one who’s thinking, ‘Should I try this place or not?’ Service has to line up with any design change and marketing. There is so much product out there. The customer pocketbook is limited, and people are making more intelligent decisions.”
    
While the Siena courts the moneyed older crowd, Mystic Lake woos the locals, and family-friendly Buffalo Bill’s goes for the super-affordable renovation, the trend in Las Vegas proper is toward young, hip and ever-new, says John Platon, senior vice president of KHS&S Contractors.
    
“Gen X has taken over. It used to be old-school guys like me going to the bars and clubs,” says Platon. “Now it’s these 23-to-30-year-old beautiful people who stand in line for three hours to get into the latest cool club and spend the rent on bottle service.”
   
With capital expenditures tight, Platon says casinos are relying on entertainment to get people on property. Once there to see the superstar concert, showroom spectacular or celebrity deejay, hopefully they spend; if the formula works and is repeated often enough, a property stands a chance of building customer loyalty.
    
“It costs a lot of money to put on a show,” says Platon, “but after 5,000 people are drunk and done, they go and gamble. The challenge is getting them there.”
   
Bar Stars

The Tropicana in Las Vegas is getting them there with a $180 million renovation that brought a South Beach vibe to its Strip property. Like the Sahara, the Trop opened in the 1950s, but managed to rebrand itself for a contemporary clientele. The casino has implemented the usual upgrades—new furniture, new carpets, and new slots and tables, along with renovated hotel rooms and three new restaurants.
   
But the buzz centers on Nikki Beach, a 15,000-square-foot day-to-night club that takes its cues from other successful venues in the franchise, in Miami, Cabo San Lucas, Marrakesh and Saint-Tropez.
   
Ewing applauds the all-purpose club that “stretches from 10 a.m. to 3 a.m., indoor and outdoor.
   
“We’ve had several spaces at Rio, a theater that had a supper club and turned to an entertainment space with a video wall, then turned into a popular club. Encore’s Surrender nightclub and Beach Club are great spaces, and very successful. You go out in the morning for the pool and sun, and at night it turns into a nightclub.”
   
But the casinos should not forget their core customers in the pursuit of younger patrons, Ewing warns.
   
“I was at Cosmo with my daughter who’s in town. She’s 21, and we went to the Chandelier Bar. The place was packed; the food and beverage, restaurants and entertainment are all doing well. But the gaming revenue isn’t there. I looked into the slot and table areas, and they weren’t busy on a Friday night in primetime. If you go to Bellagio, which has an established gaming reputation, you don’t see the same thing.”
   
Those demographic tiers—free-spending young partiers versus established slot players—are “the root of a big discussion,” says Ewing. “The beautiful people are spending most of their money on $15 drinks. They’re not gaming as much.
   
“When it comes to traditional customers, those from 55 to 70, they need to go into places where the lighting is good. Sometimes contemporary lighting is dim, and the signage is not clear, it has an elaborate font or something that is hard to read, and that makes people uncomfortable. All these factors have an impact, and that older customer should not be counted out. They have more disposable income and they have more time,” as well as a tradition and history of gambling.
   
Amazing Amenities

Today’s casino is more than just a gaming floor, hotel rooms and restaurants. It’s a collection of attractions that make the sum of the parts greater than the whole.
   
Richard Rizzo, vice chairman of Perini Building Co., agrees that success in the casino industry today is more “venue and entertainment-driven.”
   
“It’s not just the facility itself, but a lot more about the nightclubs and uniquely themed restaurants and shows,” says Rizzo. “It’s now more about who we are and what we look like than what we’re offering.
   
“Take as an example CityCenter,” Rizzo says. “It has a bit of everything, but no common theme through the place other than a holiday, urban setting. It’s just a backdrop to everything else that’s happening inside the facility, the accumulated venues and attractions that get people there. There are 35 restaurants, outside-the-box retail, the highest-end shopping in the country—those are the unique features that draw people and get them to spend money. People want to be entertained.”
   
Paul Steelman, CEO of Steelman Partners of Las Vegas, argues that all change is not for the better, and Las Vegas should not position itself as “an urban shopping mall.”
   
In the past, says Steelman, “The Strip was a street where the grand signature resorts were located”—resorts with “suburban oasis-types of landscaping and design” and “beautiful front yards.”
   
Now, says Steelman, many of those grand resorts have added “out of theme” additions and signage that “virtually destroy the original aesthetic.”
   
“Many of the projects have crammed themselves as close to the Strip as possible, eliminating the suburban experience and creating the dreaded urban aesthetic,” Steelman laments.
   
Ewing admires CityCenter’s architecture, but calls it “psychologically cold, without a warm residential feeling.”
   
Bergman is also critical of the so-called “vertical resort,” calling it “an office building—not entertaining, not customer-friendly.” He adds that it should never be the goal of any resort to overwhelm its customers or make them feel they’re in the wrong place. 
   
“Our audiences are not that sophisticated,” says Bergman. “They come to let their hair down and hang out. They want to give us their money, but they want to do it their way. The Bellagio, the Mirage, Paris let them do it their way.
   
“People don’t want to be educated,” Bergman adds. “They don’t want to be sophisticated. They want to relax with their shirt out, wearing their tennis shoes.”

As the attention of the design and construction industry was focused on China, a funny thing happened. As the recession slowly began to recede in the rest of the world, projects started appearing again. First they were small renovations—maybe a restaurant here, a gaming floor there. Then, new expansions began with a few modest hotel towers or more floor space. And then, the big projects began to reappear.
    
In Atlantic City, the Revel development was “on again” after shutting down for more than a year. In the Bahamas, the Baha Mar project promises to bring a new way to build to Nassau and the Caribbean. And the legalization of gaming is on the horizon in several states, which will mean more interesting projects.
   
In Casino Design magazine’s annual roundtable of design experts, the questions put forth examine the fragile recovery and how things have changed. Are the changes permanent or transitory? This year, in addition to the five questions posed to the experts, we added a “wild card” round where the respondents could pick one question—and we bring you the most interesting responses.

Our 2011 faculty, led by moderator Julie Brinkerhoff-Jacobs, president and CFO of Lifescapes International, includes:
• Dike Bacon, director of planning and development, Hnedak Bobo Group
• DeRuyter Butler, executive vice president of architecture, Wynn Design & Development LLC
• John Culligan, principal, Cuningham Group Architecture, P.A.
• Brett Ewing, Las Vegas partner and project manager, Thalden Boyd Emery Architects
• Bob Kelly, president, Innovation Project Development
• Andrew Kreft, senior principal with Lifescapes International, Inc.
• Richard Meister, vice president of construction and design, Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc.
• Eric Rahe, principal, BLT Architects
• Brad Schulz, vice president, Bergman Walls Architects
• Ed Wilms, design and client leader, DLR Group KKE’s gaming and entertainment studios
• Paul Yeomans, president, hospitality and gaming business unit, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.

Have we seen the last of the billion-dollar casino developments?

Bacon: There are some tasty new or underserved gaming markets potentially coming on line that could present the opportunity for substantial investments. States like Massachusetts, New York, Florida and Texas are the most promising, of course. If these high-demand, low-supply markets open with high barriers to entry, the few companies (gaming and/or financial) that are able to invest at these levels may get aggressive and take full advantage.

Butler: I believe it will be a number of years before we see a new domestic, billion-dollar-plus casino development. There are a few in the pipeline that were halted and one or more of them will likely restart before a totally new one is announced.

Culligan: No! We are currently working on large entertainment master plans in several Asian countries that include extensive gaming resorts, so we hope to be designing billion-dollar casino resorts soon.

Kelly: I do believe we will see billion-dollar casinos again; never say never. I also believe we will not see them here in the United States any time soon. This industry is still one of the best economic engines in the hospitality business, but like all business this one is risky, and while we expected of the gaming industry to be more resilient to the downturns in the economy, we found this time it was wishful thinking. Our lending institutions are much more careful of big new projects, and look for more investment by the owners. When we look overseas, we see the Asian market to be growing, so maybe billion-dollar casino resorts will not be a thing of the past.

Kreft: Will this type of development come back quickly (at least in the US)? No, but it will come back. Will it take the same form as it would have before the recession? Probably not, but the dynamics and synergy that created it have not changed. There still is a logic and economy of scale of the “city within a city” type of development where multiple hotels, commercial and entertainment options feed off of a central heart (the casino). When times are tough, the public is even more critical of who gets their cash, so you have to lure them in.

Rahe: In regional markets, the proliferation of gaming and high taxes does not support amenities that create billion-dollar resorts. It is possible in select markets with good demographics, such as Massachusetts, that a limit on licenses and reasonable taxes may result in developments in that range.

Schulz: I do not believe we have seen the end of billion-dollar developments. The
difficulty is finding funding with any sort
of acceptable terms. Market-driven projects, however, will happen utilizing creative financing, even at the billion-dollar-plus level.

Yeomans: Las Vegas is a very resilient and entrepreneurial city, and this trend is going to continue into the next decade. I see the dynamic of these large projects changing as owners/developers utilize master planning and then implement the development in phases. With Wall Street hesitant to invest in future billion-dollar projects, casino owners are going to have to get creative with the design and phasing of future large-scale projects.

How important is it for casino operators to keep their properties new and fresh? What sorts of renovations and/or revitalizations might you have under way, and what’s most unique about it?

Culligan: We constantly remind our clients to “refresh, refinish and renovate or lose out.” We are currently working on a $650 million revitalization and expansion project, among others. Our projects all transform existing gaming floors, convention facilities, bars, restaurants and retail areas, and also feature great new guest amenities. Added value is why these projects are proceeding. Casino operators must take advantage of market opportunities now to maintain their competitive edge.

Ewing: When the economy tanked, owners were holding things together with duct tape. Things got a little better, and they started using “colored” duct tape. Today, customers won’t accept that, as they have suffered just as owners have, and they need and expect change and regeneration. We currently have some restaurant and gaming remodels under way on the Las Vegas Strip. The projects are unique in the fact that capital is limited, so the planning and implementation is strategic and very well-thought-out.

Kreft: It is even more important now that casinos keep their offerings fresh. With so many competing options, the average or “long in the tooth” properties will get lost in the frenzy. When all is said and done, always keeping your property clean, manicured and in good repair is much more enticing and attractive than a unique place with a poor maintenance regime.

Meister: In the past two years, Isle re-branded two properties to the Lady Luck brand. By focusing on what our players wanted, utilizing a methodical design process, evaluating and repurposing existing architectural elements, focusing on one or two feature elements, we completely rebranded both properties for significantly less than many operators would have spent on a single buffet remodel a few short years ago. Today, these properties are providing solid returns on our investment.

Schulz: Competition for the local and tourist dollar will continue to be fierce. Tired properties that do not renovate will fall by the wayside. Growth in markets such as Las Vegas has always involved a “what’s new” mentality. Currently, Bergman Walls & Associates has several large and small renovation projects in process to five major properties.

Wilms: With new properties continually coming online, maintaining and growing your market share is an ongoing challenge. Player incentives and new marketing campaigns can be effective, but providing an experience on property that exceeds guest expectations will give you word-of-mouth recommendations that you can’t buy.
   
Guests have access to incredible restaurants, nightclubs, spas and recreation facilities across the country. A resort destination that brings all these things together can’t do so by delivering middle-of-the-road offerings. Celebrity brand recognition can be a key differentiator for the casino—and a vital component to their success.
   
We’re also seeing an increased demand for additional amenities such as championship golf courses, luxury hotel accommodations, retail and wellness spas. The spending habits of the consumer have significantly changed during the downturn, and competing for their attention in the era of the “new norm” is absolutely critical.

In general, what improvements to a casino resort produce the most return on investment, and why?

Bacon: Facility owner/operators with limited budgets should initiate a process of identifying primary focus points and revenue-generators within a facility that, with various kinds of improvement, will be immediately recognized and/or valued by the customer. Piecemeal floor layouts, dated aesthetics, poor air quality, bad sound and old games will drive a customer down the street quicker than a fire drill. In order to better define risk-adjusted return, the best facility managers are becoming more hands-on and more directly involved in the planning and design process. 

Butler: In the current environment, it appears nightclubs and beach clubs are the new hottest thing, and it has very quickly become an extremely competitive segment of the market, with certain venues having clear competitive advantages and the second tier playing catch-up. 

Ewing: Here’s just some of the important elements:
• Guest room renovation: Every hotel needs to stay fresh and clean.
• Nightclub/beach clubs: The new equation is Entertainment + Fun + Booze = $$$, which is especially true with the younger   market.
• Restaurants: Many properties are bringing in third-party brands and partners today. Some will also bring capital with them.
• Casino floor: This is the No. 1 missed opportunity today. Too many have lost focus and forgotten about the “engine,” and the casino needs to change with new technology.
• Sun, water and skin: Now pool areas extend their hours and transform into nightclubs.
• Improvements in technology: This is a very important subject, and we all have to change and grow with the younger generations. 

Kelly: I truly believe your repeat guest expects you to do some new things each year to keep your property from becoming that same old place. This is so important to your word-of-mouth marketing. It is always a good idea to ask your guests what they want, and it is imperative to the success of your new amenities. If the guest wants it, you should deliver it.

Kreft: As I don’t operate a property, I will answer this in terms of a guest. State-of-the-art, comfortable, beautiful rooms really seem like one of the best things to do. This is our little taste of living the high life, so we want to feel like we are getting something much better than if we just stayed home. Amenities like restaurants, clubs and interactive pool areas seem to be a good draw that sets you apart.

Schulz: Here are areas within casinos we believe produce the most return on investment:
• Spa: Medium
• Guest Room Renovation: High
• Nightclub/Beach Clubs: Very High
• Restaurants: High
• Casino Floor: High
• Entertainment Offerings: Medium
• Retail: Low
• Pool areas: Medium—High when coupled
  with a beach club.
 
Wilms: Guest service on the casino floor is, of course, paramount. Players shouldn’t have to look very far to have all their needs met while gaming. Center bars that are a destination in themselves are a key way to raise the visibility of guest service and create a hub for the floor. Keeping the guest connected to the action on the floor is critical. Delivering national touring acts as well as quality local entertainment is a way to draw in new guests that may not have initially considered spending time at a casino.
   
People love food—and are still willing to pay for quality. Celebrity chefs, architecturally significant spaces and refined interior design will raise the profile of a venue and its profitability. The 2010 American Gaming Association survey reported that 13 million people went to casinos for attractions like restaurants, concerts or other entertainment, but did not gamble while there. Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed chose a fine-dining restaurant while they were at a casino, and over half attended an event or show.

Yeomans: ROIs are done by individual properties on a project-by-project basis, and if the ROI doesn’t meet a certain minimum percentage, the project is not approved. Depending on the property, you need guest rooms to be fresh and attractive to attract convention business.
   
Nightclubs can be a big success from a revenue-generating and ROI standpoint, but can also be a big miss. Nightclubs are very volatile, and have a high risk associated with them. Generally, you need the right amenity or venue depending on the property, but generally, the hits (and misses) are bigger for nightclubs versus restaurants.

Should casinos improve their properties now or wait until the economy is well on the road to recovery?

Butler: It is tough to commit to major expenditures for renovations and upgrades while the business climate is just barely recovering from a lengthy and severe recession, particularly with unemployment remaining unusually high. There appears to be adequate demand, a little heavy on the supply but everyone is looking to take advantage of a deal, keeping the pressure on new project expenditures. Those that have taken advantage of the slow time will reap the benefit of being in a better competitive position later on.

Meister: Current market conditions are favorable to obtaining the best pricing seen in years. This is an excellent opportunity to look at refurbishment projects with low or nonexistent returns on investment such as public spaces and restrooms, along with those projects that will enhance the property’s position moving forward. No matter which route it takes, moving into the end of 2011 and 2012, costs will escalate, placing those who wait too long at a disadvantage.

Rahe: Their competition is deciding to improve now. Many of our clients have commissioned feasibility studies for a wide range of projects to determine costs and investment return, and are now scheduling the next stage of design with construction planned for late 2011 or 2012. They believe the economy is on the road to recovery, and are looking to be early to market with new offerings and to take advantage of discounted construction costs before they return to the norm.

Wilms: The best time to invest in a casino property is now. Like a company that hires the best talent in an economic downturn to position itself for the eventual uptick, a casino property that ignores or postpones improvements to its physical property now is just asking to be left behind when the guests return in full force. The sweet spot for renovation seems to be in the seven- to 10-year window.
   
Adding natural daylight to a facility used to be unheard of, but many of our new or remodeled properties use day-lighting as a way to offset energy usage and some artificial lighting. We’re also seeing changes to mechanical systems that vastly improve the air quality and distribution to the casino floor. 

Yeomans: There is no better time to implement property improvements than right now. The casino industry is a very capital-intensive business, and if you don’t refresh your property, you can’t stay competitive. Gaming companies need to take advantage of these market conditions to the extent they can. It is unfortunate that some companies have debt covenants that restrict the amount they can spend on cap ex, but they know they have to do something, and to the extent they can afford capital improvement projects, properties should be moving forward now. 

What are some creative ways your company/organization has marketed to existing casinos, or if you are an operator, to your existing customers?

Bacon: New hotel rooms can be an excellent non-gaming incremental revenue-generating investment. A new hotel has to be delivered at an investment level that can actually get financed. We identified a unique business opportunity to respond to this challenge and started a completely new company—DreamCatcher Hotels (DCH). DreamCatcher’s business model is the turn-key development of a high-quality, non-flagged casino hotel product delivered at a surprising value proposition that can actually get financed. DCH has taken a brand or “flag-oriented” approach to this concept, and has forged strategic partnerships with some of the most recognized product brands in the hospitality industry.

Culligan: We discuss potential development opportunities together with our clients, introduce investors, and help evaluate project financing scenarios. We also work closely with our clients to create or expand their unique brand story. This brand development strategy translates into casinos that cater to a younger crowd with ultra lounges and party pits; an affluent, urban crowd with upscale retail and high-roller pits; or in a more remote location, hotels and outlet shopping to draw casino guests off the highway. Our creativity helps clients visualize their project’s potential.

Ewing: We have requested performance results from past built projects that proved their ROI; there isn’t any better marketing tool than that.

Kelly: Innovation Project Development has seen a downturn just like everybody else. The key to an owner’s representatives is to be consistent and diligent in making recommendations on spending our owners’ money. When developing budgets, they are complete and have no project surprises. We have gone to every venue available to seek out new clients.

Meister: Marketing comes in many forms. The most valuable is an organization’s team members. If an improvement is staffed with employees who are unable or unwilling to make the guest feel welcome, provide poor service or have a blind eye toward cleanliness, it is unlikely the project will meet its anticipated return on investment.

Rahe: Initiatives have included email blasts of new work, “top-to-top” executive meetings with key clients and consultants and creation of a related website, areturnondesign.com, to draw attention to the value of investment return resulting from good design. We are also offering non-conventional services such as facility management and energy assessments.

WILD CARD QUESTIONS

Over the next 20 years, what is the most important thing the gaming industry can accomplish?

Culligan: Gaming will be the energizing catalyst that revitalizes our cities. Gaming and associated entertainment venues will become the epicenter of downtown entertainment districts. Daily draws of 10,000-20,000 gaming visitors will invigorate existing urban entertainment venues, restaurants and retail, and become the difference-maker when booking conventions and meeting spaces. Double-loading entertainment venues along pedestrian streets and plazas near casinos will enhance an entire downtown experience and expand a city’s business base.

Why, in the last 10-15 years, has the casino space itself been given the least amount of design attention? 

Ewing: Because owners/operators were focused on non-gaming elements (restaurants with celebrity chefs, high-end retail, elaborate spas, over-sized guest rooms, etc.) of their property during programming and design. The casino is still the revenue-driver of a gaming property. We see this as an opportunity at many properties, and we have assembled a think-tank of experts. We currently have a couple of projects in the works.

So, what about the return of the “dreaded” theme resort? 
 
Kreft: As more and more resort casino options pop up around the U.S. and the world, each one needs to work harder to stand out. Having a beautiful, contemporary design is nice, but can’t you get that anywhere? I think that as we work harder to get people to come back to casino properties and travel farther than their local commuter casinos, the idea of fantasy needs to come back too. We go on vacation to a place like Las Vegas for a reason: to escape. We need (and expect) fantasy!

What do you believe is the most important issue that designers and operators fail to take into consideration during the design process?    

Meister: Maintenance and operating costs are areas both designers and operators often fail to properly address during the design process. There is a tendency by designers to develop designs which pay little consideration to how the finished space will be cleaned or maintained. In addition, operators forget to take into consideration the ongoing costs associated with the maintenance and operation of the improvement.
Will the traditional layout and operational relationships of a casino change
as regional gaming expands into urban areas?    

Rahe: Not in the near future. Current offerings in urban areas may be surrounded by an urban context but still provide a similar casino floor layout, relationship of amenities to the casino floor, service efficiency and an abundance of surface parking. Most regional casinos are operated by established gaming companies, and it is unlikely you will see a fundamental change from precedents that have been successful. Several developers are exploring alternative layouts with distributed amenities and more outdoor space, an approach with roots in the “new urbanism” movement of town planning. It will be interesting to see, if successful in executing their projects, whether a less conventional layout will be accepted by gaming operators and customers.

Will we see a return of the value-oriented casino/resort? 
   
Schulz: As times improve and recreational funds are available, there will be a hangover effect. People will spend but will not be overtly extravagant and certainly not wasteful. New projects and renovations will need to be designed providing operational efficiencies, sustainability, energy conservation, prudent use of space and materials and, above all, value to the customer.

Has the casino industry reached the height of development, or is there still room for additional growth? 

Wilms: People point to the downturn of gaming revenue in Las Vegas and Atlantic City and suspect the industry has reached its zenith. While it’s true that uncertainty about jobs, housing and national economic stability have changed people’s attitudes about where to spend their hard-earned dollar, guests still crave entertainment. Casino developments have responded by improving gaming floors, adding new machines as well as world-class entertainment venues and restaurants. Operators will continue to add hotel rooms, golf courses, spas, movie theaters and retail, knowing that even in regional operations, the expectation is that the casino property will have everything—and the properties that don’t will be left behind.

Peter Yucupicio and Robert Valencia can remember as children when electricity was brought to their village. The leaders of the Pascua Yaqui tribe near Tucson, Arizona, tell a story that many Native Americans understand. The climb out of poverty to prosperity has meant a pride in the past and a vision for the future.
   
Yucupicio, the current chairman of the tribe, says it was the most amazing thing to see the trucks stringing the electrical wires.
   
“We didn’t realize how our lives would change,” he says. “But when you have nothing, you can’t really envision what having something means.”
   
Valencia, a former chairman and current vice chairman, says the struggles of their childhoods make the tribe’s two leaders more appreciative of the present.
   
“Not only do we have an appreciation of electricity, but also of running water and even pavement,” he laughs. “All the things that everyone else takes for granted, we remember the absence of them at the beginning. We consider ourselves to be strong individuals; we persevered and we completely appreciate what we have now.”
   
Yucupicio deflects credit, however, and says it’s the cohesiveness of the community that has made the difference.
   
“Pascua Yaquis are not like most other tribes,” he says. “We all participate in the discussions about what our tribal government should do. We are given all the facts and, while the discussions sometimes get heated, we usually come to the right decision. The tribal council is very involved, and we take our direction from them.
   
Valencia believes it is that struggle that has made the Pascua Yaqui tribal council so deliberative when it comes to expansion of their main enterprise, gaming. He credits those who came before the present leaders for putting them in this enviable position.
   
“There was always a dream of acquiring additional land for our reservation,” he says. “Our leaders bought this land many years ago. And although they couldn’t develop it at the time, they knew it was important. Today, that land is where Casino Del Sol sits, the main economic generator for the tribe.”
   
Valencia says he, Yucupicio and the rest of the tribal council are only trying to duplicate what previous leaders have done.
   
“We built what we have now upon the groundwork that was laid by our elders and what they left us,” he says. “We are trying to do the right thing for the future generations to make sure they have the tools to live a good life for their children and grandchildren.”
   
Wendell Long, the CEO of Pascua Yaqui Gaming Enterprises, says he’s witnessed a very savvy council that weighs every decision.
   
“The tribal council has always worked well together,” he says. “Like every government body, there is always some disagreement and discussion along the way, but when the time comes to make a decision, they are all on the same page. It’s the will of the council, not any one person.”

Gaming Ventures

The Pascua Yaquis entered the gaming business when the state of Arizona negotiated compacts with the tribes as required by legislative action in 1992. Unlike the Phoenix metropolitan area, where more than a dozen casinos are operating, Tucson has only two major tribes, the Pascua Yaquis and the Tohono O’odham Nation.
   
After operating a small casino with several hundred slot machines, the Pascua Yaquis decided to consider a larger venture. It wasn’t a slam dunk, however, by any means.
   
Long, a member of Oklahoma’s Grand Choctaw tribe, says there was much discussion among the tribal members and the council.
   
“Before committing to building Casino Del Sol,” he explains, “the tribe had never been in debt. They had financed the small casino and any other tribal enterprise through cash flow. It was quite a risk to build the large property that was Casino Del Sol.”
   
Valencia was tribal chairman at the time, and says it was a difficult decision.
   
“That was the only time I ever lost sleep while mulling over a decision,” he says. “Our people were behind the project, but it was a very hard decision to make because of the scale of the project.”
   
Valencia and the tribal council needn’t have worried. In an underserved market, Casino del Sol was an immediate hit, and competed evenly with the Desert Diamond Casino owned by the Tohono O’odham Nation.
   
Because of the success of Casino del Sol’s first phase, an expansion was a decision that didn’t cause Valencia to lose sleep. But that decision had some different ramifications, and the bottom line was that the tribe not only wanted to compete with Desert Diamond, but also with the selection of high-quality resorts that dot the Tucson area.
   
Long says economic diversity was a part of the rationale behind the decision.
   
“We were originally going with a three-star hotel, but we’ve moved that up to a four-star variety on the direction of tribal council,” he says. “We have one of the nicest casinos in Arizona, so we believed the hotel had to be of the same quality. And we truly wanted it to be a resort, so the spa, the meeting space and the upgraded features were necessary.”

Beyond Gaming

Mark Birtha, a casino industry veteran who most recently was developing the now-stalled project of a Marriot resort in Las Vegas, was hired to take the reins at the Casino del Sol.
Birtha says expansion made sense in both gaming and non-gaming amenities.
   
“In Tucson, we have one major gaming competitor,” he explains. “We believe that by creating this resort experience, we’ll have an edge over that casino. But by creating this resort, we’re also competing with the high-end resorts that are located in the hotel corridor in the Tucson area. It’s a very strong attraction for the city. Golf and spa are very important in all these facilities. Not only is the U.S. a major market, but Mexico is, as well. We’re the first stop when they cross the border. So we can compete as a casino resort, but we will also compete with all the non-gaming resorts as well.”
   
The expansion of Casino del Sol, slated to cost $130 million, will provide a 215-room, 10-story hotel. The upper floors offer panoramic views of the valley, as well as being a beacon to attract new customers. A glowing dome at the peak of the property, created by Las Vegas-based sign-maker Yesco, will shine from dusk till dawn, while extensive meeting space, new restaurants and a high-style pool area offer visitors relaxation and diversions whether or not they are gamblers.
   
Birtha says high-rise visibility was a change from the original concept of a lower-rise property, which can be justified in the goals of the project.
   
“We wanted to determine what was the right amount of amenities not only for our existing clientele but to grow our clientele,” says Birtha. “And when tribal council considered the Mediterranean feel that we’ve given the property, the beautiful domes and the very elegant high-ceiling space, it was only natural that they build a tower that rose above the natural landscape and became an icon and beacon for residents and visitors to the valley.”
   
In a well-designed master plan, however, the Pascua Yaquis are aiming at the region’s most complete destination. Plans for construction of a first-class golf course for the resort are now being finalized by tribal council.
   
Long says the tribe realizes that all the elements of the master plan are necessary.
   
“They understand that a world-class resort needs all these features,” he says. “And by having these features they can maximize the gaming and non-gaming revenues. So once the golf course deal is completed, I’m certain the council will approve it.”
   
Birtha says the master plan was one of the reasons he decided to take the job.
   
“I have been very impressed with the vision for the overall master plan that the tribal council has for this project and the property that they’ve acquired,” he says. “It was one of the reasons I decided to accept this opportunity.
   
“They never bite off more than they can chew. I’ve seen many developers around the country take too many chances, and the projects get put on hold or they get overleveraged. This group have been very diligent in building in phases. They have a structure, a perspective and a long-term view that is unique to Tucson.”
   
Construction Specialties

Putting together a team to develop the Casino del Sol expansion was important, says Long, because the tribe isn’t large enough to have one person or a department dedicated to design and construction. After an extensive search, the tribe hired Innovation Project Development, a subsidiary of the Innovation Group of Companies, to develop the expansion plans.
   
Innovation brought in architects Leo A. Daly, which designed the original Casino del Sol, and McCarthy Construction as partners in building the hotel and other amenities.
   
Birtha says IPD has the experience and expertise that the project needed from the start.
   
“They have a great reputation and experienced executives who have built dozens of casino projects around the country,” says Birtha. “They work with our engineering and facilities people to make sure the project is designed and built correctly. They oversee everything from the construction budget and design specs to interior design work, programming and spacing.”
   
For Long, having IPD in charge minimizes the problems that could and do arise.
   
“When you’ve been given responsibility to build a development like that by a tribal council, you don’t want anything to go wrong,” he says. “And even though things do go wrong, you want to keep them to a minimum. That’s the value of bringing in a company like IPD. IPD has earned the salary we’ve paid them at least five or six times over.”
   
Bob Kelly, the president of IPD who previously served as director of construction for Grand Casinos, Bally Entertain-ment and Caesars Entertainment, says his role is to make his clients comfortable by keeping them in the loop at all times.
   
“We like to work closely with our clients because they are the owners, and we’re their link to the architects, builders and other contractors,” he says. “They bring us in because they generally aren’t very familiar with large construction projects and trust us to make sure that everything goes according to plan.”
   
But it’s often the owners who want to make changes in the middle of the process, says Kelly, and it’s also his job to explain the ramifications of such changes.
   
“When the owners want to move a wall or add an amenity somewhere that wasn’t in the original plans,” he says, “we have to tell them the impact it will have on the budget, on other elements of the project and on the timeline for completion. Sometimes it’s not an easy thing to do, because there are often multiple people involved on the owners’ side. But we have to make them see reality so there are no surprises as we come to the end of the project.”
   
A new element that has recently come up is the increased involvement of the lenders. In
some cases, IPD is also responsible to the lenders, says Kelly.
   
“The new angle to this is the bank that is lending the money has to be a full-time partner in those decisions,” he explains. “So we often get in the middle between the bank and the owners, making sure their decisions are good ones and the bank will support them.”

Setting the Bar

For Birtha, installing non-gaming amenities was the key to success for Casino del Sol. But at the same time, the right non-gaming amenities must be installed that will fit the level of the customer.
   
“The non-gaming amenities we are building are not only designed to be strategic differentiators, but also high-quality revenue centers,” he explains. “In a market like this, it’s a little bit of both. We want to create amenities above and beyond the gaming experience that will impress our loyal customers but also allow us to evolve into a true resort destination that goes above and beyond just the casino experience. It also allows us to evolve the property into a non-gaming property. We’ll focus on meetings and conventions during the Monday-Thursday time period. We’ll also host the tour-and-travel customer on the weekend. Hopefully, they’ll also play in the casino, but it’s not necessary for them to be a profitable customer. Overall, we’ll better diversify our revenue base.”
   
Understanding what the customers want—and more importantly, what the return on investment will be—drove the decisions about the quality of the amenities. For example, there are no 10,000-square-foot suites.
   
“Knowing we have limitations on our maximum gaming bets; knowing who our customers are and what they expect; knowing that there is some kind of thirst for non-gaming amenities; all these things go into making the right decisions and fit and function of the product,” he says. “A four- or five-bedroom suite like you might find in Las Vegas or Macau doesn’t make sense here because they have a different set of expectations. Our biggest suite is a two-bedroom suite at about 1,400 square feet. That will clearly be a favorite with our players.”
   
The decision made by the tribe to keep the casino open during construction can be good or bad, says IPD’s Kelly.
    
“Doing a construction project while keeping the casino open is a double-edged sword,” he explains. “There’s a good chance that it will hurt your bottom line because of the business disruptions. But at the same time, the players who are putting their dollars and quarters into the slot machines like to see the construction. They feel like they are investing in an entirely new casino and that they’re getting something back for their money. There’s more sidewalk superintendents than you can shake a stick at, but that’s a good thing because it ramps up excitement as you get closer to the end of the project.”
    
With a target date for opening of November 11, 2011 (11-11-11), Yucupicio says the tribe is going to be very proud of the results.
   
“We’ve been working very hard to provide jobs for our tribal members, and this will give us another chance to do that,” he says.
   
Indeed, Pascua Yaquis account for a huge percentage of the executives and employees in Casino del Sol. Long believes that contributes to the excellence of service at the property.
   
“Sixty percent of our employees are tribal members,” he says. “Because they are the owners of the property, I think they are truly hard-working, friendly and conscientious. That sense of entitlement that you might see with other tribes isn’t evident here. It’s probably the way the Pascua Yaquis have been brought up. They just don’t have that in their DNA.”
   
Birtha agrees. “The success of the expansion project is not just financial for the tribe,” he explains. “The large contingent of tribal members that make up our staff depend upon expansion for their jobs and careers. So community success is just as important as financial success.”
   
Valencia says that even outside the tribal boundaries, a successful Casino del Sol has an impact.
   
“We’re proud that our economic development has helped not only our tribe but our community,” he says. “By producing jobs for our tribal members and for our neighbors, we’re helping raise everyone’s standard of living and making our community better.”

The hotel room has always been a place where gamblers could sleep in between the excitement of the casino floor and the showroom. No more. In today’s competitive market, guest rooms are as much of an attraction as the rest of the casino and hotel.
   
Whether it’s a compact, spare room or a themed suite with 1,600 square feet of space, hotel operators need to make the guest room experience comfortable and memorable. It takes more than fine linens and a 42-inch flat screen to impress today’s sophisticated guest. We will explore current trends in room accommodations that have proven to be successful in increasing guest satisfaction, especially those that create the desire to come back.
   
A lot of life goes on in a guest room. Jeff McIntyre, principal of premier hotel operator Gemstone Properties, likes to say that a guest room has four zones: the sleep zone, the entertainment zone, the work zone and the wet zone. When planning and evaluating rooms, McIntyre says that each zone needs to be carefully considered to allow each to stand on its own, while not conflicting with the concurrent use of other zones. For example, one guest may want to sleep while the other watches the game. A huge tub as a main centerpiece in a suite may be sexy, but not if the guest wants to use the room for a private business meeting.
   
As we go through the trends in each zone, it’s important to remember that they need to coexist. Unless specifically desired, as in the case of a themed suite, one zone should not dominate.

The Sleep Zone

Creating the standout room draws upon a palette of both high- and low-tech solutions. When considering the sleep zone, the most important factors will be the low-tech ones. The bed itself should be appropriately sized for the room. A California king in a compact room is not the right choice. Think of circulation around the bed as much as you think of the comfort of the bed itself. Select the right size for the room.
   
“Mattresses and linens are one of the strongest elements in forming guest impressions,” says Bill Langmade, president of Purchasing Management International. “More time is spent in contact with them than with any other portion of the room. A quality mattress is essential.”
   
There are now high-end installations where the choice of soft and firm pillows extends to the mattress itself, with adjustable support models. They need to be simple to operate, and long-term maintenance and dependability issues are still shaking out, but from a marketing perspective, these are a distinct bonus. Bed linens should, of course, be high thread-count, natural fibers, and the best you can initially afford to get payback in serviceability and satisfaction.
   
Think through bed placement. If you have spectacular nighttime views, the bed might want to face the windows. In a more traditional setting, the bed will want to overlook the entertainment zone. Maximize installations that allow control of room elements directly from the sleep zone. Being able to turn off the TV, turn down the lights and close the drapes without leaving the warm world under the covers will make a positive impression on your guests.

The Entertainment Zone

Entertainment is sparkle, showmanship, slick and, when done well, sublime. This is the best area to incorporate high-tech innovation. The communication wires into the room that used to support an analog telephone and “cable TV” are now the pipeline to the outside world. If used intelligently, it is also the pipeline to increased revenues and guest satisfaction.
   
A high-quality in-room information and entertainment system should offer all of the following: broadcast TV selections; a variety of music channels; premium and on-demand media options; access to front-desk functions like check-out, reservations, event ticketing and program schedules; room service options; in-house marketing and promotions; and the ever-necessary wake-up call.
   
On top of that not-so-basic platform, you should consider adding internet access, online entertainment gaming, tie-in to your wagering to the extent allowed, and easy accommodation and integration of end-user devices like iPods and iPads.
   
As you look into the state of the art of these systems, you will discover that vendors differentiate themselves primarily by the interfaces used, and system pricing changes accordingly. Low-cost, entry-level systems based on a TV screen and remote interface will run $500-$600 per key, exclusive of wiring, maintenance and shared revenue costs. Moving up to a keyboard interface will add about $200 per room. A full-blown dedicated touch-screen interface can easily add an additional $1,200 to the per-room cost.
   
You need to run a financial model to see if the payback is there based upon the services you can sell through an advanced interface, and then also consider if the more intangible “wow factor” is important to your market base. Some hotels’ entire marketing angle is based on high-tech features.
   
Entertainment does not live by electrons alone, though. Food for the body is as important as food for the brain. The options you’ll be able to offer for in-room dining will be largely dependent on the nature and capabilities of your general food-and-beverage operation. But as concerns the guest room itself, you are in control.
   
Once the food gets there, where does it go? Have you made a portion of the entertainment zone suitable for comfortable dining? In a small room, nested tables can do wonders. In a suite, the sky is the limit. The point is to plan it in. Don’t let dining be an afterthought with your guests balancing plates on their laps.
   
Having tricked out your room with the latest and greatest, give a thought to our tired business fellow who wants to sleep while his wife watches the Final Four. You want them to leave from their stay as happy as when they arrived. Arrange the room, and the elements in the room, so that two or more things can happen at once without conflicting. It’s not easy, and it will depend on the particulars of your physical constraints, but a good architect or interior designer can walk you through several tricks of their trade to get the job done.

The Work Zone

The line between work tools and play toys gets fuzzier every day. I’m writing this on my laptop, but tonight I’ll use the same laptop to grab a movie from Netflix, and I’ll patch into my plasma screen to watch it. My wife’s iPad runs spreadsheets on the flight north, and cool jazz on the flight south. It is both simpler and more complicated to accommodate work and productivity functions in the guest room than it used to be. I really don’t need a fax machine in my room, and I want to have to visit the business center only as a last resort when I’m at a resort for any reason.
   
What the room needs to provide is a convenient, comfortable and ergonomically correct workspace. And it needs to provide connections. Your guest will appreciate the capability to send a file to a remote printer and pick it up at the front desk on their way to a meeting much more than they will having to call the front desk because the printer in their room is hopelessly jammed. A fast connection to the internet will be a business person’s measure of quality, at least for that first hour each day catching up on emails.
   
The same infrastructure that services the information and entertainment needs will service the electronic needs of the business guest if adequate capacity is built into your network. You can do it with wired ethernet or adequate coverage of wireless access points. You need to make sure, though, that your pipe to the outside is big enough. A single T1 line is just not going to cut it anymore.
   
Once the connections are taken care of, the place to connect needs to be considered. A wireless network lets your guests work from anywhere in their room without having to worry about a cable reaching. And anywhere may be OK for a quick look at a file. But your business client will also have times where concentrated periods of work in their room are called for.
   
A comfortable chair and adequate desk space are essential. In smaller rooms, with built-in items along one wall, consider bowing out the built-in to make a deeper worktop. Provide outlets and task lighting. Try to keep this area free of the main traffic aisle in the room. And a stack table stowed under the worktop can do double duty as additional work area—and then a smart dining table for the great steak and a good wine as reward for a hard afternoon’s work.
   
And in case the Final Four has an afternoon game, you’d better be sure she can watch without disturbing him while he works.

The Wet Zone

Probably we should call the last area the “comfort zone,” because it is all about making your guest feel relaxed, comfortable and pampered.
   
Whether you go compact with a stall shower or opulent with a soaking tub complete with glass-walled city views, the most important characteristic is that they provide a satisfying experience. That means a small shower still has to be large enough to fully extend your arms while you wash. That means a single large sink cabinet allowing for generous counter space is probably better than crowding in a second sink at the expense of a good work area. That means an all-in-one bathroom still wants to offer some degree of internal privacy when a couple is in together preparing for a night out. “More stuff” isn’t necessarily the best stuff.
   
Lighting and linens are obvious measures of comfort. Guests really do appreciate thick, absorbent towels. Lighting needs to let him see well enough to shave while also dimming to a level where she can get her makeup just perfect for the club.
   
The practical details are what count in making this zone comfortable. A TV built into the mirror is nice, but a heated, fog-free mirror is nicer. A low-flow showerhead that leaves the feeling of shampoo in your hair is as bad as a high-pressure head that throws stinging darts of water at your back. Don’t trust the marketing hype. Find out where the fixtures you are considering are in use and then go try them yourself.
   
Fine-tuning is they key to the bathroom in a typical room. In a suite, you need that also, but then you want to add luxury. The mantra could very well be “a special place for everything.” Now we have room for multiple sinks, and we can differentiate them. A large basin for washing. A small one for shaving. A dressing mirror, a make-up mirror, a shaving mirror. A multi-head shower for a refreshing wash, that soaking tub with the killer view for winding down, and a couple-sized hot tub with music, soft lights and a champagne bucket for something else. Shelves belong within easy reach of each fixture—everything in its place and a place for everything.
   
Bathrooms are also a great marketing tie-in if you operate a spa on your property. Put out thick terry robes prominently displaying the spa logo. Select toiletries from items for sale at the spa, and present them in such a way that your guests are aware of it.
   
And don’t forget a heated floor. Talk about luxury.

The Green Zone

We used to say that guests are becoming more environmentally conscious. Now we say they are environmentally conscious. Particularly in a setting where it doesn’t directly impact their perceived cost to “do the right thing,” it is an important quality to them, and green features are something that conference planners actively seek out.
   
This green zone runs through the heart of our other four activity zones, and it is an area where unobtrusive technology is the answer. We’ll look at just a few areas that are both environmentally friendly and provide end-user comforts.
   
Environmental control systems save energy and can add features. Room lighting wired back to a central point allows for the use of small control panels that are programmed for different “scenes” or “moods.” Your guests can simply adjust the room lighting for their particular needs during the course of the day from a four- or five-button control.
   
It is the same technology you’ve been using in meeting rooms, but on a smaller scale.
And below the full levels, the settings all save energy. The same system can be tied into sensors that turn off all lights when the room is empty and turn them back on as soon as the door is opened.
   
The same type of occupied/unoccupied sensors can be used to conserve a little mechanical system energy and operating costs. In this instance, the temperature set point for the room can be moved up or down a few degrees when the room is empty so less energy is wasted providing comfort to an empty room. The typical HVAC system can bring the temperature back to the set level within a few minutes of return occupancy. And remote administration features allow even higher/lower set points when a room is not rented.
   
Heating and air conditioning systems in hotels historically have been largely recirculating systems. Indoor air quality is improved by using systems that instead introduce significant amounts of outside fresh air into the mix. Depending on the project location and the main mechanical systems, this can often allow a cost savings through the use of economizer cycles, waste heat recovery and heat exchange units. The key here is to tell your engineers early on that these are important features for them to consider.
   
In our wet zone, we already discussed low-volume shower heads. A well-designed one will use much less water without diminishing the end-user experience. Low-volume toilets have had a mixed record, but the newer dual-flush models are seeing wider guest acceptance.
   
The key to successful use of green technologies is to make them as transparent to the guest as possible, and to focus on those that have value-added features in addition to their being environmentally friendly. Everyone wants to do their part, but always keep in mind that most of your guests appreciate comfort more than sacrifice.

The End Zone

We hope we’ve given you a number of tools to analyze your existing and proposed facilities, as well as a few good specific ideas to investigate further. But before closing, one more item: thinking through how to put all these pieces together.
   
In a large suite, it is relatively easy to make each zone really great, because of the space available. As the room size gets smaller, this becomes more and more of a challenge. With smaller rooms, you need to have an overall marketing strategy to show you the best path. This is done successfully in two different ways: hotels that offer a variety of room types to please a variety of guests, and hotels that come up with a marketing hook to focus on a particular guest experience. Think of an “aloft” type of hotel guest room as the latter. Compact, high-tech, efficient. That vibe and aesthetic takes the pressure off, making each individual zone great. The selling point is the small-footprint ensemble.
   
The other successful model is to offer variety. We’ll see a stacked bay of rooms with killer bathrooms that are in fact the center of the room experience. Next to it will be a stacked bay of suites that have a larger work area and a wet bar for entertaining. The business crowd gobbles these up. Next along is a two-room suite that is laid out for families. The idea here is to do a number of things well, and to use different room configurations to accomplish it. The extreme version of this model will even go as far as theming each large suite, so the luxury guests can find a suite to suit each time they come to visit.
   
The weakest model we see, and the one to avoid, is the hotel that was not planned. The hotel with no narrative—a hotel that is not marketed to a defined group of guests. Do that and you end up being nothing to anybody rather than something for everyone.
   
The state of the art is a mix of high-tech features and old-fashioned comforts and service. Always check that you use technology in the service of comfort. A thermostat with a green “up” arrow and a red “down” arrow and nothing else is going to win you more return guests than one that has a flip-open cover with a page of instructions. A great place to wash your face is more valuable to your guest than three so-so places. The ability to use different parts of the guest room for different functions during the course of the day and not have them intrude on each other is key.
   
As you evaluate options and make decisions, put yourself in your guest’s place. Imagine walking into your room, putting away your clothes, washing up, and having a snack. A design and amenities that satisfy you will likely do the same for your guests.
   
On the way home from their stay, you want him to think to himself how well he slept, and her to remember that great quarter-final game. You planned carefully to make it happen, but all they need to know is that they loved their stay. Something about it was just right. They’ll be back.

Last October, the Yocha Dehe Wintun Indian Nation pulled the plug on a planned 0 million renovation of the Cache Creek Casino Resort in Brooks, California.

The project would have added a 10-story hotel and two dozen cottages, and more than tripled the number of guest rooms at the property. Suspension of the plan was “a pretty straight-ahead business decision,” said tribal spokesman Brent Andrew, based on the still-struggling economy. The tribe settled for an upgrade of the existing hotel.    

The Jamestown S’Klallam tribe of Washington State, which plans a $50 million hotel complex for its 7 Cedars Casino, will not break ground for several years at least, due to the soft economy. “We have some beautiful renderings,” said CEO Jerry Allen—but that’s all they will have until about 2015.

In Buffalo, New York, the Seneca Nation recently completed a $9 million expansion of its temporary casino, which opened in 2007. But the temporary facility—with 223 more slot machines and 5,000 square feet of added gaming space—sits in the shadow of the stalled permanent casino, a steel hulk that has actually begun to rust. Construction on the $333 million permanent casino was halted in 2008, due to the economy.

And the stories go on and on. Tribal casinos that once made ambitious plans to overhaul and expand their casino properties have been forced by a historic recession and jittery lenders to base their renovation cycles on necessity alone.     

According to Smith Travel Research, which compiles data for the hospitality industry, construction projects were down by more than one-third between December 2007 and September 2009. Projects on the drawing board at that time were cut by 26 percent. And beautiful renderings continue to gather dust at gaming companies around the U.S.

It’s a matter of simple math. Capital expenditures for improvements typically derive from a percentage of revenues (hotels, for example, usually reserve 4 percent to 5 percent of annual gross revenues to offset upgrades; some brand-related “refresh” programs mandate capital improvements every five to seven years).

But with revenues down 10 percent, 20 percent, even 30 percent in some sectors, discretionary expenditures are the first thing to drop off the to-do list. In an increasingly competitive industry, however, delaying essential upgrades is not an option.

When major overhauls are out of the question, tribes are staying competitive by practicing the Three R’s: refresh, renovate, retrofit.

Next to Godliness
The most cost-efficient upgrade is a soft-goods renovation—replacing pillows, bed linens, curtains, etc.

“Once you’ve taken care of fire and life safety and made sure your physical plant is running smoothly—the AC is working, there’s no leaky roof—you have to make sure everything the guests touch on a regular basis is clean: the bedspread, the duvet cover, throw pillows, linens, draperies and sheets,” says Bill Langmade, president of Purchasing Management International, LP of Dallas, the leading purchasing agent for the gaming industry. “Most gaming properties have very high occupancies—80 percent and 90 percent, where 65 percent and 75 percent is the norm. So the rooms in these hotels get beat up more quickly.” As a property ages, capital expenses and the cost of repairs and maintenance increase.

A soft-goods renovation—which also involves touching up nicked or scratched furniture and replacing upholstery and carpet—can save about 60 percent to 70 percent of the price of a hard-goods renovation.

“Leave the lighting alone,” says Langmade. “Leave the art alone, the wall coverings, the TV, but replace or repair anything that your guest feels or touches. If that’s the only thing you do to keep the decision-maker from choosing to go elsewhere, do it. Because once you lose a customer, they never come back.”

Minimal improvements can also justify rate increases, so the investment will be recouped over time.

“Refresh a room and you can expect to get an extra couple of bucks in rentals,” says Langmade. “Or you can discount the room and drive that occupancy into the casino. At least you won’t be losing money.”

Newly upgraded rooms are also cause for an ad blitz: “Come see our new look.” But there are downsides to phased renovations, Langmade says.

“You’ll get a better buy if you do all 300 rooms at once instead of 100 rooms at a time, and you certainly don’t want to be in an interminable renovation that lasts for years at a time. If you have the money, yes, it’s best to get in, get out and get it over with.

“But if you’re limited in capital, find those things that guests touch, and fix or replace them as you can. The best thing you can do for a casino is maintain it meticulously, have the greatest crew, give them tools to keep it as clean as possible, and repair as you go along.”

Price vs. Value
Lee Cagley, principal of the interior design firm Cagley and Tanner of Las Vegas, rejects the notion that effective upgrades have to come with a big price tag.

“There’s a difference between quality and expense,” says Cagley. “It’s a fallacy to say it’s easier to do a design when lots of money is involved. The work we’ve done most recently was well-priced to begin with.”

He recommends judicious spending on furniture, fixtures and equipment, economizing on some items, and splurging on those that have maximum impact.

“For years, the classic East Coast uniform for a woman was a Lilly Pulitzer dress and an Hermes scarf,” Cagley says. “In times like these, I may have to use full lead crystal in a chandelier, but I don’t have to spend $10,000 a yard on the fabric that hangs around it. You put your money in a specific place where it changes the perception of the entirety.”

Cagley believes effective lighting is always a good investment. The goal in a casino, he says, is to keep the lighting primarily at eye level, which creates a sense of comfort and familiarity, mimicking residential lighting.

“Sometimes in casinos, the only thing at eye level that’s lighted is the slot machine face. So you have a black ceiling with down-lights that show every scrap of paper on the floor.” Far better to “layer” light at and near eye level through sconces, cove lighting, hanging lamps and illuminated columns, he says. “It’s a hard job to do, but when it’s done right, the finished space has an indefinable glow” that enhances every offering on the floor.

Though the casino is a world unto itself, a self-contained universe of entertainment, Cagley advocates a blend of the familiar and the aspirational that both soothes and excites.

“People love to try on alternate lifestyles, imagine what it would be like to be some Saudi prince or a rock-and-roller. But they also want to feel comfortable, and the point of reference for that is their home.” It’s vital, he says, to create many spaces within one space, and design pathways that lead guests to different kinds of entertainment, be it a bank of table games, a nightclub or a restaurant.

By their nature, he says, “casinos want to be great, big, huge, column-free spaces. But people don’t live in warehouses and they don’t live in barns. You want to break massive spaces into smaller units so your guests don’t feel like they’re one of 10,000 people sitting on a slot machine stool.”

Telling the Story
“Casinos are very similar to retail or theme parks from the standpoint of creating paths or walkways that draw customers along, creating excitement and interest throughout the journey,” says Tom Hoskens, principal of the Cuningham Group. “Reconfiguring gaming areas is an ongoing thing with casinos,” which constantly monitor the hot spots and dead spots on and around the casino floor.  

At the recently renovated Mystic Lake Casino in Minnesota, designer John Culligan of the Cuningham Group created a dynamic, lava-like “Golden River” ceiling feature that both articulates the gaming floor and leads guests on a journey through the resort’s many entertainment venues.    

Mystic Lake, owned and operated by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux, is the Midwest’s largest gaming hall. Its “multi-phased, Las Vegas-style renovation” was designed to reignite the excitement for existing patrons, and entice a new demographic as well.    

It’s a delicate balance, introducing new features yet retaining enough of the familiar that longtime guests—who already enjoy and patronize the venue—don’t feel excluded.

“Part of the challenge of renovation is to keep it as comfortable and as homey as you can for loyal patrons, making it better and easier to navigate,” says Hoskens, so that the change is more an improvement than a radical departure that could alienate base customers.  

Though Las Vegas remains the standard, most tribal designs continue to reflect the community’s heritage and association with nature. The design at Mystic Lake included multiple natural finishes—granite, onyx, a variety of woods—to evoke the flowing water, craggy banks and verdant landscape of the Minnesota River Valley.

The same principle applied at Harrah’s Cherokee, now in the midst of a $633 million overhaul that will make its hotel the largest in North Carolina (it is one of few massive renovations that went forward despite the recession). There, Cuningham designers created “a revision of a modern Smoky Mountains lodge concept inside the casino itself,” says Hoskens, with an unfolding interior path that includes artistic representations of rivers, valleys, woodlands and mountains. They guide patrons through the space, make iteasy to explore without confusion, and recall the tribe’s history at the
same time.

“We have a slogan here, ‘Every building tells a story,’” says Hoskens. “If you tell that story correctly, you capture the soul of the place and the people.”

Timing Is Everything
In the years leading up to the recession (when all those renderings were being rendered), the building industry enjoyed a spike in both renovation and new construction. Costs of labor and raw materials soared. According to RS Means, a building costs data firm, the price of construction rose a median 8.6 percent between 2004 and 2006.

That pendulum has clearly swung in the opposite direction. According to some figures, construction costs were down 15 percent to 20 percent in fourth-quarter 2009, and construction saw the highest unemployment rate of any sector. Despite signs that the economy is inching toward recovery, many projects are currently being bid at cost or even below, and competition is keen among vendors, contractors and subcontractors.

But the trend will not continue indefinitely, and some experts predict a rush to build in 2012 that mirrors the post-9/11 recovery. This could be the time to make a deal, and ensure that your property is primed to take advantage of the rebound.